Catheters are generally tubular medical devices configured for insertion into canals, vessels, passageways, lumens, or other suitable body cavities (e.g., to deliver energy to target tissue, to permit injection and/or withdrawal of fluids, to keep a passage open, etc.). Many advanced catheters are equipped with sophisticated therapeutic assemblies at distal end portions that are configured for delivery to various target treatment sites within the body. Such therapeutic assemblies are often delicate and complex components that require careful handling.
One example of such a device is a catheter treatment device having a multi-electrode array movable between a delivery or low-profile state (e.g., a generally straight shape) and a deployed state (e.g., a radially expanded, generally spiral/helical shape). The electrodes or energy delivery elements carried by the array can be configured to deliver energy (e.g., electrical energy, radio frequency (RF) electrical energy, pulsed electrical energy, thermal energy) to a target treatment site after being advanced via catheter along a percutaneous transluminal path (e.g., a femoral artery puncture, an iliac artery and the aorta, a radial artery, or another suitable intravascular path). The multi-electrode array can be sized and shaped so that the electrodes or energy delivery elements contact an interior wall of the target artery when the array is in the deployed (e.g., spiral/helical) state within the artery. The multi-electrode array of the catheter treatment device can be particularly delicate, and can be susceptible to damage during shipping and handling if not packaged appropriately. Conventional catheter packaging generally includes a sheath that contains the catheter within its internal lumen contained in long, cumbersome boxes that allow catheters to be shipped in a straight configuration.